One of the most powerful feelings that can be used to sell an event is the fear of missing out, also known as FOMO. A sports fan does not want to be, the one, who wasn’t watching when the big upset happened or when two teams compete in an instant classic, that will be talked about for years to come.

A big time prize fight is the perfect opportunity to create FOMO, as there is always a chance that something exciting will happen. It could be a classic battle, brutal knockout, or a big time upset.

Master of F.O.M.O.

The person who has mastered the art of creating FOMO is Jake Paul. Paul has made himself into one of, if not, the biggest star in boxing, without beating any good boxers. Paul has a record of 11-1 with 7 knockouts with wins over Youtubers, retired MMA fighters, and a retired basketball player.

He has captured an audience that has led to him making millions upon millions of dollars, all based off of the fear of missing out. Every time he fights, people are wondering, what will happen, even with the opponent being clearly outmatched.

On Friday, November 15th, the 27-year old Jake Paul took on the 58-year old Mike Tyson. Now, clearly Paul had an advantage going into this fight as he is entering his athletic prime while Tyson’s athletic prime was more than 30 years ago.

This did not matter as the legend of Tyson along with very short clips of him training made people wonder, what if? Can he knockout the much younger Paul? There were a lot of fans rooting for Tyson to knockout Paul.

There was a fear of missing out on a 58-year old legend, knocking out, the annoying, Youtuber turned boxing star. The event was streamed on Netflix, a streaming platform that seems to be in every home. This is a recipe for record breaking viewership.

According to Netflix, more than 60 million people watched the event. There was also more than 70,000 people at AT&T stadium in Dallas to see the spectacle in person.

The fight itself was very disappointing as the 58-year old Mike Tyson looked like a 58-year old man trying to catch up with a 27-year old. Paul also seemed hesitant to go after Tyson. There were opportunities for Paul to try and knockout Tyson but seeing a 58-year old man get seriously injured or worse in the ring, would not be good.

Is Jake a Genius?

It has been reported that Jake Paul made upwards of 40 million dollars for this fight. Making 40 million for a fight where they seemed to be an “understanding” of what was going to happen. Is the definition of working smarter instead of harder. Was Jake Paul able to pull this off because his is really smart or because we are really dumb?

It is a combination of both as Paul saw a hole in the market where he could take advantage and somehow people have not caught on. Now, after the disappointing fight against Tyson, people want to see him fight against a legit boxer in his next bout.

He has even been challenged by a few boxers, including the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world, Artur Beterbiev.

Paul took this opportunity to laugh about being called out by one of the top fighters in the sport instead of accepting the challenge. If, Paul wants to continue his career as a boxer and make big time money, his next fight has to be a legit challenge. So, we will see what is next for Paul.

What can the sport of boxing learn from Paul?

The first thing is to take advantage of streaming services. Boxing should not be hard to watch. Right now, as a die-hard boxing fan, I have to pay for DAZN, ESPN Plus, and Amazon Prime to watch most boxing action.

Promotions should be looking to make deals with Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and other popular streaming services that will give fans easy access to watch their favorite fighters without paying for pay-per-view.

Secondly, it comes back to creating FOMO and the possibility of what if. That starts with the match-ups. If there are two top fighters who are fighting against one another, it creates interest without promotion because of the possibility of what if.

If you give fans a good match-up that is easy to watch without paying extra for it. The fans will watch it. Paul may have laid the blueprint for boxing to have more success going forward as a whole, while also building stars out of deserving and talented fighters.

Some people may describe Paul as the result of a dying sport but ironically he may given the sport a way to cure its not so terminal illness.